I guess we have all heard the old saying, “Don’t dwell on the past”, but I think in order to move forward, we sometimes have to look at where we have been. It goes without saying that 2009 presented many challenges both on an individual level and from a business owner’s prospective. The economy seems to be the topic of choice when talking with most people. Whether you own a business or work for one, the economy has had some affect on your year.
As a business owner, we were not untouched by the economic woes of 2009. Sales were soft, vendors were often short of products, and we found ourselves constantly adjusting and readjusting our marketing and business plans. Still, the year proved to be better than 2008. We sold 5 new franchises in the U.S. and many more in Canada. So even with the touch economic times, we still saw growth. We also picked up many new customers and managed to secure more market share in our region.
Working for AT&T Advertising Solutions in 2009 was also filled with challenges. Since many businesses were having a tough year, it goes without saying that we saw a decline in advertising revenues. This decline forced the company to make some very tough choices, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs. Many of these people were personal friends, so it was not an easy to watch this happen.
Last year I made a commitment to become more involved with our Gulf Breeze Chamber of Commerce. I took over as chair of the Small Business Development Committee and was picked for the 2010 – 2013 Board of Directors. I was also nominated for 2009 Emerging Leader of the Year and our business, THE original basket boutique was nominated for 2009 Small Business of the Year. So despite the challenges, I will still look back to 2009 as a good year.
Now that 2009 is behind us, we need to look forward to 2010. I truly believe this year will build on the successes of the past and I expect 2010 to be another year of recovery and growth both personally and professionally. In order to make 2010 a great year, we have to add some structure around our plans. To be honest, it is January 5th and I really hadn’t thought about any plans for 2010 until I read a January 1st post on Chris Brogan’s blog. (A big thanks to my friend Betsy Wuebker of www.passingthru.com for introducing me to Chris Brogan!) I really like Chris’s approach to goal setting. He selects three words to guide his goal setting and keep him on track to his objectives. I think this is a very good way to plan your year and it is easy enough to keep you focused.
As I started to ponder on my three words, I realized that this wasn’t as easy as you might think. I was having trouble with one word, let alone three! Chris describes his three words as something that would take more than one sentence to describe. His word sits upon his actual goals and acts as his guiding principles. These words need to have meaning and life to them and not just be a description. In the past, like many people, I have set resolutions for each new year but like many years previous, they didn’t have any solid goals or structure to back them up. By the 2nd quarter of the year, many of my resolutions were already just a memory because life has a tendency to throw new challenges in your path which takes the focus away from your “new year resolutions”.
After some careful deliberation and a little soul searching late into the night, I came up with a list of words that had some meaning to me, but I still needed to narrow them down to three. Growth. Flexibility. Vision. Bend. Flexible. Change. Stretch. Expand. Teach. Spread. Time. Fix. Course. Tack. Tool. Path. Plan. Gift. All of these words have some meaning to my goals for this year, but when I narrow it down, my three words are: Expand. Tool. Bend.
Expand: This year, my personal growth plan is to expand my horizons and education. I want to become better at online marketing & business strategy. I order to achieve this goal; my strategy will be to become better educated by reading more expert blogs and books. As a business goal, Expand means that I am going to increase our business footprint, regionally and nationally. This goal will be achieved by my increased knowledge of online marketing and business strategy.
Tool: You can’t build a house with out a hammer. In this decade, you can’t build a business with out a website, blog or social marketing. These relatively new marketing tools have become the norm in business. This year, my goal is to build more tools for our business. I plan to develop more sites, better email marketing and increase blog posting. I am also going to start pod casting, twittering and an online video blog. My strategy for “Tool” builds on the “Expand” goal to become better educated on alternative marketing.
Bend: You might have figured this one out. I need to learn to bend, be flexible and embrace change much better. The only constant in this day and age is change. Bend means that I need to be ready to change on a moments notice to capitalize on opportunities. My goal is to be flexible and open minded to new ideas. I will look at challenges as opportunities for growth and development. I will bend, but I won’t break in 2010.
Well, there you have it, My Three Words for 2010. I hope that my three words help you to come up with your own so you can effectively plan your 2010 to be one of the most successful years of your life. Good Luck & Happy New Year!
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